As fall comes to a close and temperatures drop, the market in Columbus is still warm! With low inventory and high demand, once an appealing home hits the market with the right agent, buyers are jumping!

Buyers who are willing to get their hands a little dirty are winning right now. I have local lenders with great renovation loans for people who are credit rich but cash poor and have the fixer upper bug! I love seeing my client's homes after they close and what they've been able to do to update the space and make it their own. Stay tuned for a renovation feature coming soon!

On the sell side, if you have an updated home or are willing to do some work pre-listing - the move in ready homes are still flying off the market! My sellers in South Columbus did a wonderful job redoing their kitchen, updating the finished basement and decorating to make buyers drool. They enjoyed their beautiful home for a few years and when they decided to list a few weeks ago after working with me to find a great condo in the Short North, they had over 16 showings and 7 offers by midnight on the first day. Both homes should be closing next month, they'll sell first so they can use the funds to purchase their new home and we negotiated post closing possession so they only need to move once! Have questions about buying and selling at the same time?

Please reach out so we can chat 614.638.5817 pfjohnson@kw.com

Here are the national real estate statistics for August & September 2017:

In August, the national median home price increased 4.5% to $263,800, but decreased 1.9% in September to $258,000 which still is up 6.2% from September 2016. The national average for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage rose .02% to 3.96% in August. However, it dropped to 3.86% in September which is an amazing incentive to buy in this seller's market! For specific questions on how these statistics affect you, please get in touch with me - pfjohnson@kw.com | 614.638.5817

Homes spent an average of 27 days on the market during the month of August, which is one day less than July and eight days fewer than August 2016. This is yet another record low for central Ohio, according to the Columbus REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service.

“Homes have been selling in less than a month this summer” said Mic Gordon “This is the fastest they’ve ever sold as buyers are wasting no time seizing an opportunity to purchase a home.
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— 2017 Columbus REALTORS® President Mic Gordon

There were 3,248 central Ohio homes and condos sold during the month of August, which is a 5.6 percent increase over July, but less than one percent higher than a year ago. However, the homes sold year to date (21, 623) is sitting at a record high for the first eight months of the year.

There were 3,740 central Ohio homes and condos listed during the month of August, a 10 percent increase from a year ago and the highest number of new listings for the month of August since 2008. Even with the added listings, this left inventory at 5,444, which is just slightly less than the previous month and 13.2 percent below August 2016.

“Homeowners today know it’s a great time to sell a home and there’s still a shortage of inventory,” Gordon said. “We’re hoping the supply increases this fall to meet the pent-up demand.”

The average sales price of home during the month of August in central Ohio was $217,800, which is 6.7 percent more than August of 2016. The median sales price was $185,000, up 6.9 percent from a year ago. Year to date (January through August), both the average sales price ($215,650) and median sales price ($182,000) are the highest on record.

There were 2,827 homes and condos sold during the month of September, which is a 4.4 percent decrease from the same month a year ago. Year-to-date, central Ohio is still on track for a record year in home sales, according to the Columbus REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service.

“Although there was a slight decrease in sales this past month, overall demand for homes in central Ohio continues to soar,” said Mic Gordon. “Buyers are still hungry for inventory, making it a better time than ever to sell!”

— 2017 Columbus REALTORS® President Mic Gordon.

Compared to a year ago, there was a slight uptick (2.5 percent) in the number of homes listed for sale in September. This left inventory at 5,448, which is just 4 homes more than August, but 11.1 percent down from September 2016. The average sales price for the month of September in central Ohio was $212,916, which is 4.3 percent higher than the same month last year. The median sales price was $180,000, up 5.3 percent from last year.

“Given that September marked our 80th consecutive month of year over year inventory decreases, it’s a positive sign that inventory didn’t decrease last month,” Gordon said. “More central Ohio home owners have realized it’s an opportune time to put their home on the market.”

Homes spent an average of 29 days on the market during the month of September, which is 6 days fewer than a year ago. According to the latest Housing Market Confidence Index by the Ohio Association of REALTORS®, 84 percent of central Ohio REALTORS® expect prices to rise over the next year, while 14 percent expect prices to level. When asked about whether they’ve seen an increase or decrease in multiple offers over the past year, 84 percent said they saw they saw an increase, 14 percent said it remained the same and 2 percent said they saw a decrease.